Category: Projects

Three Gorges Dam: The $ 25 billion dam has been built on Yangtze river in China. It has created a 600 km long reservoir. The 2,309 m long and 181 m high dam is designed to generate 18,200 MW electricity.

Chunnel tunnel project: Britain was united with the rest of the Europe, 130 feet under the sea-bed of the English Channel on December 1, 1990. Man was able to walk from Britain to Europe for the first time since the ice age.

World’s longest tunnel: A giant drilling machine punched its way through a final section of Alpine rock on October 15, 2010 to complete the world’s longest tunnel, after 15 years of construction. The 57 km high-speed rail link forms the lynch-pin of a new rail network between northern and south-eastern Europe. It is the third tunnel to be built through the snowbound St Gotthard area and is 3 km longer than a rail link between two Japanese islands, earlier record holder at 53.8 km.

Human Genome Project: Hundreds of scientists from USA, Britain, France, Germany, Japan and China are working in 16 centres around the world in this project to decipher the human genetic code. The initiative is led by National Institute of Health, USA. On 26 June 2000, it was announced that a working draft of the human genome is ready. The research is expected to help find solutions to diseases like cancer and genetically triggered diseases.

World’s highest railway: China has built the world’s highest railway network through Tibet to Lhasa. Much of the tracks of the project are located at heights over 12,000 ft.

Segway: Vehicle of tomorrow: This is the world’s first self-balancing human transport. It has been developed by Dean Kamen at a cost of over $ 100 million. The deceptively simple contraption is a revolutionary scooter that has no engine, brakes, throttle, gearshift or a steering wheel.

Aerogel, earth’s lightest solid: Aerogel is pure silicon dioxide or sand like glass, but 1000 times less dense. It is the lightest solid substance ever created. If flattened out, a cubic inch would yield a surface bigger than a football field. The material is an excellent insulator and is already being used in space exploration projects.

World’s Largest Tidal Turbine: The world’s largest tidal turbine, weighing 1000 tonnes, has been installed in Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough. The tidal turbine is rated at 1.2 megawatts, which is enough to power a thousand local homes. It was built by Marine Current Turbines, and it will be the first commercial tidal turbine to produce energy, when it begins operation later in 2008.

Large Hadron Collider: The Large Hadron Collider is the world’s biggest and most powerful particle accelerator, a 27-km looped pipe that sits in a tunnel 100 metres underground on the Swiss/French border. It cost 3 billion euros to build.

Solar plane: On 7 July 2010, giant glider-like aircraft completed the first night flight propelled only by solar energy. Solar Impulse, whose wingspan is the same as an Airbus A340, flew 26 hours and 9 minutes, powered only by solar energy stored during the day. It was also the longest and highest flight in the history of solar aviation.

World’s fastest train launched by China: On 26 December 2009, China launched what it described as the world’s fastest train, one that can travel at an average speed of 350 kmph. On its inaugural run, the train covered the 1,068 km between Wuhan in central China and Guangzhou in the south in two hours 45 minutes. By comparison, the average for high-speed trains in Japan is 243 kmph, while in France it is 277 kmph.

World’s Largest Building: Though Dubai boasts the tallest building in the world, Chengdu in southwest China is now home to what Chinese officials are calling “the largest building in the world.” Situated in the capital city of Sichuan province, the New Century Global Centre is a colossus of glass and steel. Opened on 28 June 2013 and developed by the Exhibition and Travel Group, the standalone building is large enough to hold 20 Sydney Opera Houses and, with about 5.5 million square feet of floor space, has three times the square footage of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.

London Array—World’s largest offshore wind farm: The London Array wind power project in the United Kingdom has become the world’s largest offshore wind farm. Previously, the world’s largest offshore wind farm was the 500 MW Greater Gabbard wind power facility off the coast of East Anglia.

Human Connectome Project: The National Institutes of Health, USA’s Human Connectome Project is an ambitious effort to map the neural pathways that underlie human brain function. It will greatly advance the capabilities for imaging and analysing brain connections, resulting in improved sensitivity, resolution, and utility, thereby accelerating progress in the emerging field of human connectomics. Altogether, the project will lead to major advances in our understanding of what makes us uniquely human and will set the stage for future studies of abnormal brain circuits in many neurological and psychiatric disorders.

River Projects

Baspa Hydro-electric Project: 300 MW project, located in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh, is the largest private hydro-electric. It is located on Baspa river, a tributary of Satluj.

Beas Project: Consists of two units: (i) Beas-Sutlej Link and (ii) Beas Dam at Pong. The project links the Beas and the Sutlej rivers at Slapper in Himachal.

Bhadra Reservoir Project: across the river Bhadra is in Karnataka.

Bhakra-Nangal Project(Himachal Pradesh): It is the largest multipurpose project in India and the highest straight-gravity dam in the world (225.5 m high) on the river Sutlej.

Chambal Project: is a joint undertaking by the Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh governments. The project comprises construction of two dams: Gandhi Sagar Dam in Madhya Pradesh and Jawahar Sagar (Kotah) Dam in Rajasthan.

Chukha Project: The 336 MW project is the most prestigious and largest in Bhutan. It has been completely built by India on Wang Chu river.

Chutak hydropower project: Located about 14-km upstream near Sarzhe village in Kargil. The project, a run-of-the-river scheme on the Suru river with installed capacity of 44 MW.

Damodar Valley Project (West Bengal and Bihar): principal object of this multipurpose scheme is to control the flowing of the Damodar which is notorious for its vagaries and destructiveness.

Dul-Hasti Hydro-electric Project: Built on river Chenab in Jammu and Kashmir.

Dhauliganga Project: 280 MW project, located on Dhauliganga river in Uttarakhand.

Farakka Barrage: The basic aim of the Farakka Barrage is to preserve and maintain Kolkata port and to improve the navigability of the Hooghly river. It consists of a barrage across the Ganga at Farakka, another barrage at Jangipur across the Bhagirthi, a 39-km long feeder canal taking off from the right bank of the Ganga at Farakka and tailing into the Bhagirthi below the Jangipur barrage, and a road-cum-rail bridge.

Gandak Project (Bihar and Uttar Pradesh): This is a joint venture of India and Nepal as per agreement signed between the two governments. Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are the participating Indian States. Nepal also derives irrigation and power benefits from this project.

Hirakud Project: (Odisha): is a chain of dams for harnessing the Mahanadi.

Idukki Hydro-electric Project: 1170 MW hydro-electric project of Kerala, the project has three major dams—the 169m high Idukki arch dam across Periyar river, 138m high Cheruthoni Dam across the tributary of Cheruthoni river and 99.9m high Kulamavu Dam.

Jayakwadi Dam (Maharashtra): The 10-km-long Jayakwadi dam on the Godavari is Maharashtra’s largest irrigation project.

Kalpong hydro-electric project: This is the first hydel power plant of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Kakrapara Project: on the Tapti near Kakrapara, Gujarat.

Kishau multipurpose project: The 660 MW project is a joint venture between Himachal and Uttarakhand governments. It will be located on Tons river and envisages construction of a 680-m long and 236-m high concrete gravity dam, 45 km upstream of Dak Pathar at the fringe of the Ichari reservoir.

Koel Karo Project: Earthen dam across river south Koel at Basia in Bihar and another dam over north Karo at Lohajimi. The capacity is 710 MW.

Kol Project: 600 MW hydro-power project, located on the Satluj, 6 km upstream of the Dehar Power House on the Beas-Satluj link project in Mandi district, Himachal Pradesh. The dam also serves as a check dam for the 1,050-MW Bhakra Dam.

Kosi Project (Bihar): This project serves Bihar and Nepal and helps to check floods in Terrai region of Nepal and upper Bihar.

Nagarjunasagar Project: For utilizing waters of the Krishna river.

Nathpa-Jhakri hydro-electric project: India’s largest hydro-electric project, located at Nathpa Jhakri in Himachal Pradesh. It is built on Satluj river.

Nimoo Bazgo hydro-power project: 45 MW hydro-power project is a ‘run-of-the-river’ scheme to harness the potential of the Indus river in Leh.

Parambikulam Aliyar Project: joint venture of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, it involved construction of seven inter-connected reservoirs by harnessing rivers including two major rivers viz., Parambikulam on the western slopes of Annamalai Hills and Aliyar on the eastern slopes.

Parvati Valley Project: It is the first inter-State hydel power project of India. Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi joined hands with Himachal Pradesh to set up the project. The 2050 MW project is built near Kullu, on Parvati river, a tributary of Beas.

Periyar Valley Scheme (Kerala): The scheme envisaged the construction of a masonry barrage 210.92 metres long across the river Periyar near Alwaye, in Ernakulam district.

Pong Dam: also called the Beas Dam on the river Beas, near Talwara in Himachal Pradesh, is the highest (132 m high) rock-fill dam in the country. The project is a joint venture of Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana. The dam has been designed to store 6.6 million acre feet of water.

Rajasthan Canal Project: uses water from the Pong dam to irrigate desert regions of Rajasthan. It consists of 215 km long Rajasthan feeder canal (with the first 178 km in Punjab and Haryana and the remaining 37 km in Rajasthan) and the 467 km long Rajasthan main canal lying entirely in Rajasthan.

Ramganga River Project: in Uttarakhand is built across river Ramganga, one of the major tributaries of the Ganga at 3.2 km upstream of Kalagarh in Garhwal district.

Ranjit Sagar dam Project: Formerly known as Thein dam, it is built on Ravi river near Thein village in Punjab. Total installed capacity is 600 MW.

Rihand Project: (Mirzapur District—Uttar Pradesh): This project comprises construction of a concrete gravity dam across the Rihand river in Mirzapur District and a Power House at Pipri and necessary transmission lines. Gobind Ballabh Pant Sagar is a part of this project.

Rongtong—World’s Highest Hydro Power Project: The Rongtong project is situated in Kaza in the Spiti Valley in Himachal Pradesh.

Salal Project: It has been built on River Chenab in Jammu and Kashmir and marked the beginning of the harnessing of hydro power potential of river Chenab.

Sanjay Vidyut (Hydel) Project: Asia’s first fully underground Hydel Project. The 120 MW project is located near Bhaba Nagar in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh.

Sardar Sarovar Project: This is one of the largest river valley schemes in the country. The project involved construction of 163-metre-high cement concrete dam at Navagam in Gujarat to create irrigation potential of 1.79 million hectares and generate 1450 MW of power.

Sawalkote Hydro Project: 600 MW project in Jammu & Kashmir.

Sharavati Power Project (Karnataka): Located about 400 km from Bengaluru near the Gersoppa falls, it is one of the world’s major power projects to be built by Indian engineers with American collaboration.

Srisailarn Project: located 110 km away from Nagarjunasagar in the upper reaches of the river Krishna.

Subarnarekha Project: It is a multipurpose project which provides assured irrigation to 7,06,000 acres to the chronically drought-prone areas of Odisha and Bihar.

Tehri Dam Project: World’s fifth and Asia’s largest 1,000 MW hydroelectric project has been constructed on river Bhagirithi, a tributary of Ganga in Tehri district of Uttarakhand.

Tungabhadra Project (Andhra and Karnataka): The project comprises a dam across the Tungabhadra river near Mallapuram.

Tuirial Dam: The 60-MW project is the first major Central project to be successfully commissioned in Mizoram. It was built at a cost of ₹1,302 crore and took nearly two decades to complete. The commissioning of the project in August 2017 made Mizoram the third power-surplus State in the region after Tripura and Sikkim.

OTHER PROJECTS

Korba Super Thermal Power Station: located on the west bank of the Hardeo river near Korba in Bilaspur district of Madhya Pradesh. The capacity is 2,100 MW. The plant has been set up by NTPC.

ONGC’s Gas-based power plant in Tripura: `3,429-crore gas-based power project of State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) in Tripura. The project was also a hallmark of cooperation between India and Bangladesh, which ensured smooth passage of heavy project equipment and turbines to Palatana through its territory by road and waterways, from Haldia port in West Bengal.

Rohtang tunnel project: The foundation stone of the ` 1,500 crore project under the 3,962 m high Rohtang Pass in Himachal Pradesh was laid on 26 May 2002. Once completed, the tunnel will open up an alternative round-the-year road between Manali and Keylong.

Talcher Urea Plant (Odisha): is the world’s second largest coal-based fertiliser plant, located in Talcher. The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre has set up a 62-tonne heavy water plant within the plant complex.

Talcher Power Plant: The Talcher Super Thermal Power Project (STPP) is the first of its kind in Odisha.

Rosa Power plant: Located in Uttar Pradesh, it is northern India’s first thermal power plant in the private sector to start operation.

IB-Valley Project: The 210 MW thermal power project is located at Banharpalli in Odisha.

India’s longest oil jetty: The potential for building marine structures has been acquired by India with the construction of the longest oil jetty in the country at Butcher Island, about 10 km east of Mumbai docks. The National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC), has built the 1.4 km long jetty, capable of handling super-tankers of 150,000 dwt, for the Mumbai Port Trust.

Ore sorter plant at Khetri: India’s first ore sorter plant has been commissioned at the Khetri Copper Complex in Rajasthan, ushering in the computerised ore sorting technology in the country.

First Indian gold refinery: It has been set up at Shirpur (near Nashik) by Autoriders Industries. India now has its own hallmarked Ten Tola (TT) bars.

First Windfarm of India: India has successfully installed Asia’s first commercial windfarm on the Southern Coast of Kutch in Gujarat. It consists of 21 wind turbine generators which generate 1.1 MW power.

Asia’s largest Solar Farm: Moser Baer Energy Limited (MBCEL) has successfully commissioned the 30 MW solar farm at Gunthawada, District Banaskantha, Gujarat. It is the largest solar energy farm of Asia, built on 305 acres of land, using 2,36,000 thin film modules.

Param, India’s first super-computer: India’s first indigenous supercomputer, the Param, was unveiled to the world in September 1991. The supercomputer was developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC). A new, more powerfull Param-1000 computer was unveiled on 28 March 1998.

ISRO builds India’s fastest super-computer: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has built India’s fastest supercomputer, named “SAGA-220”, with a peak performance of 220 teraflops (220 trillion floating-point operations per second). Earlier, the fastest supercomputer in India, at 132.8 teraflops, was Eka, located at the Computational Research Laboratories Limited (CRL), a subsidiary of Tata Sons Limited, at Pune.

HBJ Pipeline Project: This pipeline is 1,750 km long and is supplying gas to six gas based fertilizer plants being constructed in Hazira (Gujarat), Bijaipur (Madhya Pradesh), Sawai Madhopur (Rajasthan), and Jagdishpur, Shahjahanpur and Babria in Uttar Pradesh.

Telugu Ganga Project: Inaugurated in May 1983 this project consists of 400 km long canal named ‘Telugu Ganga” which starts from the Sri Sailam reservoir on Krishna river in Kurnool district. The canal joins four more reservoirs on way before joining the Poondi reservoir in Tamil Nadu. The Poondi reservoir is to meet the drinking water needs of Chennai. The project also provides irrigation water specifically to Rayalaseema district in Andhra Pradesh.

Project Elephant: This is a multi-crore rupee country-wide programme for protection and conservation of the elephants.

MST Radar Project: Mesosphere, Stratosphere and Troposphere (MST) Radar, second of its kind in the world (the first being in Peru) has been built at Mittagadanki village near Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh). The radar is capable of probing different regions of the atmosphere.

First power from vegetable wastes: India’s first power plant to generate power exclusively from vegetable waste is located in Chennai.

India’s first bio-diesel plant: On 12 October 2007, India’s first bio-diesel plant went on stream. Hyderabad-based Natural Bioenergy started production of the “green” fuel at its factory in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh.

Gagan—GPS-aided navigation system: Flights over the country and the Indian Ocean, from East Africa to Australia, have become safer, more economical and environment friendly with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) installing a GPS-aided geo-augmented navigation system (GAGAN) for commercial aircraft. The project, taken up by AAI, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Raytheon, has taken India into an exclusive club whose members possess the advanced system.

India’s third research station in Antarctica: Nearly 28 years after it set up the first permanent research station in the South Polar region, India commissioned its third station, “Bharti”, in Antarctica in March 2012.The new station is located almost 3,000 km away from “Maitri” station, which is serving the nation since its inception in 1988-89.

Power Grid launches India’s first 1,200-Kv station: India’s power sector witnessed a new era in the transmission segment with the launch a 1,200-Kv ultra-high voltage (UHV) test station along with experimental lines in Bina, Madhya Pradesh, by State-run Power Grid Corp. As of now, the power is being transmitted on 765Kv/800Kv lines. The existing 400Kv line can transfer about 600 Mw power, 800Kv line can do between 1,200 Mw and 2,400 Mw and 1,200-Kv transfer 6,000-8,000 Mw.

Project Saraswati—ONGC digs water in Thar: After successfully having drilled ‘black gold’ in several locations around the world, the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has now dug out water in the parched desert area of Rajasthan, using its expertise in geological studies and drilling capabilities under its ‘ONGC Project Saraswati’. Initiated in 2007 as part of its corporate social responsibility, the pilot project led the ONGC drillers and geologists to find underground water aquifer that has now started providing 76,000 litres of water per hour. The site, ‘Saraswati-1’, is located around seven km away from Jaisalmer (on the Dabla road) and the bore had to be dug 554 metres deep.

Bhuvan—ISRO’s answer to Google earth: Bhuvan is a local variant of Google Earth, the iconic service from internet search company Google Inc., that allows ordinary people to take a close look at most parts of the world on their computer screens, using satellite images and maps. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has launched a similar Web-based service that will allow users to check everything from the exact location of the new restaurant where they have booked a table for the evening to the state of flood-ravaged villages in Bihar. ISRO will use images taken by its seven remote-sensing satellites in orbit around the earth, including Cartosat-1 and Cartosat-2.

India’s longest rail tunnel: A 11-km railway tunnel across the Pir Panjal mountain range in J&K is the longest such in India. A three-metre-wide road has also been provided inside the tunnel for maintenance and relief and rescue operations in the event of any eventuality. Built at a cost of ₹1,300 crores, the tunnel has reduced the surface distance between the Qazigund town in Srinagar Valley and Banihal town in the Jammu region by 18 km, besides providing an all-weather surface link between the two regions.

E-kranti project: The `113,000-crore project is the world’s most ambitious broadband project that seeks to provide digital access to all citizens, from the rural and elderly to the poor. The blueprint revolves round ‘nine pillars’—broadband highway, e-governance, electronics manufacturing leading to ‘zero import’, universal phone access, electronic delivery of services, jobs, rural internet, information for all and ‘early harvest’ programmes.

Project Mausam: India will launch its own “Project Mausam”, a transnational initiative meant to revive its ancient maritime routes and cultural linkages with countries in the region. Titled “Project Mausam: Maritime Routes and Cultural Landscapes Across the Indian Ocean”, the project will focus on the natural wind phenomenon, especially monsoon winds used by Indian sailors in ancient times for maritime trade, that has shaped interactions between countries and communities connected by the Indian Ocean. It aims to explore the multifaceted Indian Ocean “world”—extending from East Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, the Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka to the Southeast Asian archipelago.

Setu Bharatam project: It aims to make all national highways free from railway level crossing by 2019. Under the project, 208 rail-over bridges and rail-under bridges will be built at the cost of ₹20,800 crore, and 1,500 decade-old bridges will be reconstructed and revamped at cost of ₹30,000 crore.

Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin): The Union government has approved $1.5 billion (approximately ₹9,000 crore) World Bank support for the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) in rural areas. Under the project, ₹8850 crore is to provide incentives to the State, and ₹150 crore is for the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation. The Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) is aimed at improving cleanliness and eliminating open defecation.

RORO Ferry Project: On 22 October 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first phase of the Ghogha-Dahej RORO (roll-on, roll-off ) ferry service in Gujarat. The ferry service will reduce the distance between the two towns from 310 kilometres by road to 30 kilometres by ferry. In the second phase, cars can also be carried between the two towns. This is the first of its kind project not only in India but also in South-East Asia. By linking South Gujarat and Saurashtra and allowing vehicles with passengers aboard, the ferry service will save travel time and fuel and clear congested roads. It will also give a boost to the entire Saurashtra economy. Once complete, the service will be extended to other locations across the Gulf of Khambat and Gulf of Kutch. There are also ambitious plans to connect the State to Mumbai and other southern States by this link.

First OPV Class Patrol Vessel by Private Sector Yard: L&T Shipbuilding Ltd is building a series of indigenously designed Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) for an order value of ₹1,432 crore. First of the seven series was launched on 27 October 2017 at L&T’s Shipbuilding Yard at Kattupalli. The vessel has a length of 98 metres with gross tonnage of 2,100 tonnes and its endurance is 5,000 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 12-14 knots. The maximum speed is 26 knots. The ship is fitted with one 30 mm automatic gun and two 12.7 mm gun with Fire Control System (FCS).